The fourth round of the French Superbike Championship was held at the Pau-Arnos circuit over the weekend, with Dunlop’s official test team in attendance for the second time this year.
Earlier this year Xavier Simeon took an impressive win for the Dunlop team at Le Mans while testing a new development tyre, and he would go on to repeat this feat in the first of the two races at Pau-Arnos at the weekend.
Simeon was embroiled in a head-to-head battle with local hero Kenny Foray (BMW), with the Belgian former MotoGP rider eventually taking the lead on lap 12 while using a new development tyre on the front of the bike.
Wim Van Achter, Dunlop Motorsport Manager, explained why it was an important result for the test team:
“The level of competition in French Superbike is strong and entering the Dunlop Test Team in such races allows us to prove our latest tyres in an environment with top riders and teams. The temperatures at Pau-Arnos were very high with track temperatures between 41c and 47c adding an extra dimension to the tyre testing. It was an exciting race and we are delighted to win for the second time on our second circuit of the year. The new front tyre used by Simeon will appear in other Superbike classes, including the FIM Endurance World Championship later this year. ”
Dunlop have already announced plans to enter the next championship round at Magny-Cours on 7th July, although they will be putting forward a different bike and rider – five time Isle of Man TT winner Peter Hickman on a BMW S1000RR.
Van Achter went on to explain:
“The advantage of running a different bike and rider allows us to get feedback from a range of top-level riders on different chassis. It is important for Dunlop to develop tyres that suit an array of different bikes, not just one particular bike.”
You can view our Dunlop track range here.
